[vid Alcoa, Africa] How the Rich Keep us Poor

HowTheRichKeepUsPoor.com  "What’s Going On” With a GDP ranking of 182 out of 195 international countries and 55.2% of the population living below the poverty line, Guinea is one of the poorest countries in the world.  This is shocking considering Guinea is the world’s largest producer of bauxite with half of the world’s reserves in its land.
Over the past 50 years, one lone mining conglomerate in Guinea, CBG, has produced and exported approximately $400 billion USD worth of bauxite.  Shockingly, Guinea’s share of that wealth has been limited to a mere $5 billion USD.
    Through its joint-venture mining deal with the country, CBG established itself as the largest bauxite mine in West Africa, and is now 49% owned by the Guinean state and 51% by a consortium composed of ALCOA (American), RIO TINTO (Anglo-Australian) and DADCO (SWISS).
    One of the provisions put in place in order to benefit economically from the venture, gave the Guinean government the right to choose its own company to transport 50% of all bauxite cargos mined by CBG.
    On August 12, 2011, the government of Guinea authorized NANKO Shipping (owned and operated by a Guinean national who has over 30 years of experience shipping cargo for public and private sector companies all over the world) to execute the government’s shipping rights.  To date, NANKO has yet to ship a single cargo load because CBG has refused to honor the terms of the agreement.  Their resistance is surprising given that this would cost them less than 0.05% of the value of the aluminum produced from its bauxite mines.
    Resource rich countries continue to be deprived of a share in the wealth that they create, which takes away from the country’s ability to assign resources to its people.  This is why the life expectancy in Guinea is 54.1 years old, the literacy rate is 41% and only 1 out of 5 households have access to electricity.  This is also part of the reason why Guinea lacks the resources to handle the current Ebola crisis, which originated in its forest regions and has spreads across West Africa.
    The overall issue is not unique to Guinea alone, but a common theme across the African continent as a whole.  Over the last 30 years, the continent has lost out on more than $1 trillion as a result of similar situations.
    Today, NANKO Shipping is suing Alcoa, which manages the day-to-day operations of the CBG, for refusing to honor its terms of the mining deal.  According to Reuters, if NANKO’s lawsuit were successful, it would mark the beginning of African nations taking control of their natural resources from international companies.